Major European project finds high phthalates levels in toys

A joint customs and market surveillance operation by four EU countries has found that of 104 samples of toys it checked, more than third contained illegal levels of phthalates. And 92% of the offending items carried the CE marking that indicates conformity with health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia inspected samples from 438 consignments of 2.25m pieces of toys from China, between September and October last year. The inspections focused on those plasticized toys – especially dolls – thought to present a high risk because of suspected concentrations of phthalates exceeding restrictions under REACH Annex XVII articles 51 and 52.